Lynton/Leahey dominate Bathurst 6 Hour

Beric Lynton and Tim Leahey have dominated the Hi-Tec Oils Bathurst 6 Hour to win the event at a canter in their BMW M3.

The pair started on pole and held the lead at the start, moving out to a seemingly unassailable advantage of more than a lap which they held for much of the race.

Their success over Grant and Iain Sherrin in second came despite having to serve an additional compulsory pit stop after officials deemed their pole-sitting BMW was too fast after qualifying.

Such was Lynton and Leahey’s dominance, the pairing led every lap of the encounter, even allowing for their five compulsory pit stops.

Their cause was eased somewhat by the Sherrins having to serve a pit lane penalty early in the race, then electing to take a discretionary stop midway through proceedings to prevent the need for a splash and dash in the closing minutes.

A long stint towards the end of the race from Nathan Callaghan laid the foundation for the Cachet Homes Holden VF HSV’s run to third, the car shared with Chris Lillis and Matthew Holt.

Having shown strong form in practice and qualifying, Geoff and David Russell ended the race six laps clear of their nearest B Class competitors, and an impressive fourth overall in their BMW 135i.

The pair had run third in the latter stages of the race before being overhauled by Callaghan inside the final 30 minutes of the event.

Jake Camilleri stole top spot in a dramatic late Class C battle, the Hyundai i20 moving through at Griffins Bend with six minutes remaining.

It capped off a come back from Camilleri and co-drivers Charlie and Alfonso Senese after their car sustained heavy front end damage just minutes into opening practice on Friday, before being excluded from qualifying and starting the race from the back of the grid.

Former class leaders Rodney Stait and Jake Williams could do nothing more than trail home to take second in class in their BMW M3.

Aaron Cameron and Kyle Gurton combined to win Class D in a Toyota 86, with Class E initially going to Andrew McMaster, David Noble, and David Worrell in a Mazda 3 before a post race penalty handed the win to the Suzuki Swift Sport of Michael Hopp and Steve Pittman.

The race was largely incident free, with long stretches of green flag running interrupted by the Safety Car on only three occasions.

It saw the distance record for the race, which previous stood at 125 laps, fall with the top seven finishers all bettering the previous marker.